Yuanmingyuan -- The Old Summer Palace

Last day in Beijing and we went out to the Old Summer Palace. Started in 1707 it grew to be a combination of three huge gardens with lakes and buildings (both Chinese and European architecture)

However, in 1860 during the Second Opium War, French and British troops destroyed nearly every structure in the Old Summer Palace.  There are some buildings, such as the one shown here, that have been reconstructed. However, most buildings will not be.

The original remnants of a destroyed bridge.

However, the lakes are still present.

We went at the end of the day so we got to see the start of sunset on a beautiful Beijing day.

Wait?  Are we in Europe?  No, these are the ruins of the European style buildings found at the northern end of the Old Summer Palace.

One cool thing is this reconstructed maze.  The goal is to get to the cupola in the middle!

Mom and I raced and she beat me.  Here are Mom and Dad trying to get back out!

Last dinner in Beijing was at the famed Quanjude.  It was Mom's 70th birthday dinner!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Shanghai With Mom and Dad

Last stop, Shanghai.  First thing Dad wants to do is eat at this Taiwanese Noodle Shop!!

It's official, I'm addicted to my iPhone!  Dad catches me texting.

Saturday night on East Nanjing Road!!  Time for some lights and shopping.

A foggy Pudong from The Bund.

One of the highlights of our trip to Shanghai?  My score on the hotel!!  It is called the Shanghai Fenyang Garden Hotel and it was fantastic.  I found a deal online for $100 a night per room.

It is in the heart of the French Concession, right off the corner from Huaihai Road, and built on the grounds of a former estate!

On Marl's suggestion, a trip to the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition.

One very cool thing is the scale model of Shanghai!!!

Overlooking People's Park.

Mom and Dad at the very touristy Fengcheng (?) Temple area.

If teaching doesn't work out.....

Last night in Shanghai was spent over in Pudong.  Here looking up that the Jinmao Tower in the middle, the Shanghai World Financial Center on the right and the still under construction (and tallest of the three) Shanghai Tower.

My proof Mom was there.  You can see the back of her head, and outline of her hair, blocking the view!

Expensive but fantastic tea in the lounge.

We loved breakfast at the corner of Xiangyang Road and Changle Road.  All little shops serving great breakfast.

We were partial to this place with the "Melrose Pizzeria" sign.  There was no pizza in sight.

This girl runs the stand I ate at when I came to Shanghai back in August 2012.  Then Marlene, Eleni and Kendra ate at her stand when they were here. 

Shanghai is great in that they have lots of public green space.  The city feels incredibly European and it is, I hate to say it, superior to Beijing.  Here the locals are in Xiangyang Park.

Mom, Dad and I brought breakfast to the park and had breakfast in the park.  How cute are these two???

The Process of Making Silk

So because we were on the tour, they took us shopping. But the first stop was interesting because it was a combination of a museum and shopping for silk items.  So first of all, you need silkworms and they eat the leaves of mulberry trees.

Then you let them do their work and they spin cocoons of really fine thread.

The balls of silk are then inspected for quality.

The balls have two options.  They are then soaked to get them wet and then an end of fed onto a machine.

The machine then unwinds the cocoon and coils it into a spool of silk thread.

Then the thread is dyed and woven into silk cloth.  Apparently now they have managed to get the silkworms to create colored thread.

I love these types of items, in this case the pattern template for the machine to create the design on the silk cloth.

Another option for silk is to take the wet cocoon and open it up.

Stretch it out, in this case over a ring.  Pictures is a number of cocoons all on top of each other stretched out.  It is so strong that punching the silk doesn't cause it to break, you hand comes right back at you.

Then the silk is allowed to dry and it is pulled out thin.  The silk in this case, I don't think is actually made into the silk they use in clothing.